GIFT  OF 


A  REPORT 

ON  THE  FEASIBILITY  AND  ADVISABILITY  OF 
SOME  POLICY  TO  INAUGURATE 

A  SYSTEM  OF  RIFLE  PRACTICE 

THROUGHOUT  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

OF  THE  COUNTRY 


NATIONAL  BOARD  FOR  THE  PROMOTION  OF 
RIFLE  PRACTICE 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 
1907 


Property  of  the  United  States  Government. 

A  REPORT  ON 

THE  FEASIBILITY  AND  ADVISABILITY  OF  SOME  POLICY 

TO  INAUGURATE  A  SYSTEM  OF  RIFLE  PRACTICE 

THROUGHOUT  THE  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

OF  THE  COUNTRY 


By  e.    ^   L 

Gen.  GEORGE  W.  WINGATE 

Of  New  York  ^  -  3  *5  O  ^  0 

and 

Gen.  AMMON  B.  CRITCHFIELD 


or  owo 


PUBLISHED  IN  ACCORDANCE  WITH  A  RESOLUTION  OF  THE  NATIONAL  BOARD 
FOR  THE  PROMOTION  OF  RIFLE  PRACTICE 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT    PRINTING    OFFI,Cl; 
1907 


At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  National  Board  for  the  Promotion  of  Rifle  Practice, 
held  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  January  24,  1906,  the  question  of  building  up  an  interest 
in  target  practice  throughout  the  schools  of  the  country  was  discussed,  and  a  special 
committee  consisting  of  Gen.  L.  M.  Oppenheimer,  of  Texas;  Gen.  George  W.  ^Vingate, 
of  New  York,  and  Gen.  Ammon  B.  Critchfield,  of  Ohio,  was  appointed  to  inquire  into 
and  report  at  the  next  annual  meeting  of  the  board  upon — 

The  feasibility  and  advisability  of  some  policy  to  inaugurate  a  system  of  rifle  prac- 
tice throughout  the  public  schools  of  the  country. 

At  the  last  meeting  of  the  board  held  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  January  25,  1907,  the 
report  of  this  committee  was  submitted  by  Generals  Wingate  and  Gritchfield,  and 
is  published  in  accordance  with  the  following  resolution  of  the  board,  which  was 
unanimously  adopted : 

Resolved,  That  the  report  of  the  committee  on  rifle  practice  in  public  schools  be 
approved  and  the  thanks  of  the  board  be  tendered  Generals  Wingate  and  Critchfield 
for  their  valuable  paper;  that  the  National  Board  for  the  Promotion  of  Rifle  Practice 
recommend  to  the  various  educational  authorities  the  desirability  of  interesting 
school  boys  over  13  years  of  age  in  the  subject  of  rifle  practice.  It  was 

Further  resolved,  That  this  report  be  printed  separately  and  given  the  greatest  pub- 
licity, the  matter  of  distribution  and  number  of  copies  required  therefor  to  be  sub- 
mitted to  the  committee  on  publicity,  with  power. 

It  is  deeply  regretted  that  before  the  completion  of  the  report  General  Oppenheimer 
died,  and  his  great  help  in  assisting  to  promote  interest  in  rifle  practice  is  lost  to  the 
country. 

This  report  is  earnestly  commended  to  the  superintendents  of  public  instruction 
throughout  tho  country. 

ROBERT  SHAW  OLIVER, 

Assistant  Secretary  of  War, 

President  National  Board  for  the  Promotion  of  Rifle  Practice. 
GROTE  HUTCHESON, 

Captain,  General  Staff, 
Member  and  Recorder,  National  Board  for  the  Promotion  of  Rifle  Practice. 


•:•  •  • 


Report  on  the  Feasibility  and  Advisability  of  some  Policy  to  Inaugurate 
a  System  of  Rifle  Practice  throughout  the  Public  Schools  of  the 
Country* 

NEW  YORK,  January  21,  1907. 
NATIONAL  BOARD  FOR  THE  PROMOTION  OF  RIFLE  PRACTICE. 

GENTLEMEN  :  In  pursuance  of  the  resolution  of  the  board  requesting 
the  late  Gen.  L.  M.  Oppenheimer,  of  Texas  (who  died  since  the  last 
meeting  of  the  board,  and  whose  death  is  deplored),  and  the  under- 
signed to  report  "on  the  feasibility  and  advisability  of  some  policy  to 
inaugurate  a  system  of  rifle  practice  throughout  the  public  schools  of 
the  country,"  we  respectfully  report: 

For  many  years  attempts  have  been  made  to  inaugurate  a  system 
of  military  instruction  in  the  public  schools  of  the  country.  As  a 
rule,  these  have  not  proved  successful.  In  a  few  private  military 
schools  situated  in  the  country  some  target  practice  is  conducted,  but 
the  difficulty  of  carrying  on  anything  of  the  Kind  in  the  public  schools 
has  rendered  it  impracticable. 

The  matter,  however,  has  recently  been  introduced  in  the  public 
schools  of  the  city  of  New  York,  and  the  success  which  has  been 
attained  there  has  demonstrated  the  feasibility  and  advisability  of 
introducing  rifle  practice  in  the  public  schools  among  the  boys  over 
the  age  of  13  years. 

The  schools  of  the  different  States  are  organized  upon  many  differ- 
ent methods.  The  educational  authorities  not  unnaturally  are  jeal- 
ous of  their  prerogatives.  No  outside  organization  could  well  intro- 
duce a  new  subject  of  instruction  in  the  schools  without  seriously 
interfering  with  the  educational  routine.  Consequently,  however 
desirable  it  may  be  that  the  pupils  attending  these  schools  should  be 
taught  to  shoot,  such  instruction  can  only  be  secured  by  the  voluntary 
action  of  the  school  authorities  and  with  their  hearty  cooperation. 

The  result  which  has  been  attained  by  the  Public  Schools  Athletic 
League  in  introducing  shooting  in  the  high  schools  of  the  city  of  New 
York  has  been  so  thoroughly  tested  that  the  committee  are  of  the 
opinion  that  that  system  should  be  recommended  for  adoption. 

Few  appreciate  the  magnitude  of  the  New  York  public  schools. 
There  are  3  training  schools,  19  high  schools,  490  elementary  schools, 
2  truant  schools,  and  1  nautical  school;  total,  515,  with  14,500 
teachers. 

These  schools  are  scattered  all  over  the  326  square  miles  which  the 
city  covers. 

The  registered  number  of  pupils  enrolled  in  these  schools  is  about 
600,000,  which  is  more  than  the  entire  population  of  St.  Louis,  the 
fourth  city  in  the  Union.  Half  of  them  are  boys.  The  number 

380479 


4  RIFLE    PRACTICE    IN    PUBLIC    SCHOOLS. 

attending  the  high  schools  is  about  20,000,  a  little  more  than  half  of 
whom  are  boys.  The  College  of  the  City  of  New  York  has  about 
4,000  male  students. 

The  vast  territory  over  which  the  city  has  spread,  and  its  congested 
streets  have  made  it  impossible  for  the  children  (particularly  in  the 
poorer  districts),  to  get  any  physical  exercise,  and  the  physical  con- 
dition of  many  of  them  has  in  consequence  not  only  become  below 
normal,  but  instead  of  spending  their  energies  in  play,  as  they  do  in 
the  country,  the  boys  are  led  to  join  " gangs"  and  to  become  criminals. 

This  lamentable  condition  of  affairs  led  to  the  formation  of  the 
Public  Schools  Athletic  League  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  whole- 
some athletic  exercises  among  the  children  attending  the  public 
schools  of  that  city.  The  league  is  made  up  from  officers  and  direct- 
ors of  the  board  of  education,  superintendents,  principals  and  teachers, 
Erominent  athletes,  gentlemen  interested  in  philanthropic  work,  and 
jading  business  men.  It  was  organized  December  4,  1903,  and  its 
progress  has  been  so  great  that  during  the  year  1906  there  were  over 
150,000  entries  in  the  games  which  it  carried  on,  which  numbered 
over  600. 

In  the  early  part  of  1905  it  decided  to  institute  rifle  practice  among 
the  boys  of  the  high  schools  of  the  city,  which  schools  are  attended  by 
boys  from  fourteen  to  nineteen  years  of  age,  by  installing  in  as  many 
of  the  high  schools  as  possible  a  "subtarget  gun  machine."  This  is 
an  ingenious  apparatus,  by  which  an  ordinary  Krag  army  rifle  is 
attached  to  a  rod  upon  an  upright  standard,  placed  to  the  right  of 
the  firer,  in  such  a  way  that  while  the  gun  is  movable,  the  rod  follows 
the  movements  of  the  barrel  of  the  rifle,  and  is  at  all  times  parallel 
with  the  line  of  the  sights. 

The  shooter  cocks  the  rifle  and  aims  at  a  target  a  foot  high  on  the 
other  side  of  the  room,  and  when  his  aim  is  satisfactory,  pulls  the 
trigger.  When  this  is  done  an  electrical  connection  is  made  which 
shoots  forward  the  rod  which  is  on  the  standard,  so  that  its  point 
punches  a  hole  in  a  miniature  target  like  a  visiting  card,  which  is 
placed  in  front  of  it,  which  hole  is  mathematically  on  the  same  rela- 
tive place  on  the  card  target  as  would  have  been  made  in  the  target 
at  which  the  shooter  was  aiming  if  he  had  a  bullet  in  his  rifle.  It 
consequently  gives  the  same  experience  in  holding  and  "pull  off"  as 
is  had  in  actual  shooting. 

The  machine  possesses  the  additional  advantage  that  the  instructor 
standing  on  one  side  of  the  shooter  can  see  by  the  movements  of  the 
point  of  the  rod  on  the  miniature  target  exactly  how  the  aim  is  being 
taken  on  the  large  target  and  is  able  to  correct  all  errors  in  holding 
and  pulling  off  as  they  are  made,  something  which  has  hitherto  been 
supposed  to  be  impossible.  The  apparatus  makes  no  noise.  There 
is  no  danger  of  its  hurting  anybody.  It  can  be  used  very  rapidly, 
and  there  is  no  expense  involved  in  its  operation.  The  results 
obtained  from  its  use  are  so  valuable  that  several  of  the  New  York 
National  Guard  regiments  consider  the  machine  equal  in  value  to 
their  rifle  galleries. 

The  league  succeeded  in  interesting  a  number  of  prominent  gentle- 
men with  the  importance  of  teaching  the  youth  or  the  country  the 
use  of  the  military  rifle,  so  that  they  presented  a  sufficient  number  of 
these  machines  to  enable  the  league  to  install  one  of  them  in  each  of 


RIFLE    PRACTICE    IN    PUBLIC    SCHOOLS.  5 

ten  of  the  high  schools  at  a  cost  of  $265  each.  The  schools  which  are 
thus  equipped  are  as  follows: 

Mr.  S.  R.  Guggenheim,  the  treasurer  of  the  league,  gave  one  to  each 
of  the  following  schools: 

The  High  School  of  Commerce  and  the  De  Witt  Clinton  High  School 
(Manhattan),  Morris  High  School  (Bronx),  Boys'  High  School  (Brook- 
lyn), Curtis  High  School  (Staten  Island),  and  the  Bryant  High  School 
(Queens). 

Col.  Leslie  C.  Bruce  presented  one  to  the  Stuyvesant  High  School 
(Manhattan),  Mr.  Warren  Cruikshank  gave  one  to  Erasmus  Hall 
High  School  (Flatbush),  Col.  Robert  B.  \Voodward  gave  one  to  the 
Manual  Training  High  School  (Brooklyn)  in  memory  of  his  brother, 
the  late  Maj.  Gen.  John  B.  Woodward,  and  Hon.  Bird  S.  Cpler  and 
Mr.  Horace  J.  Morse  united  in  giving  one  to  the  Commercial  High 
School  (Brooklyn).  Another,  presented  by  Mr.  J.  A.  Haskell,  will 
shortly  be  installed  in  one  of  the  other  high  schools.  The  City  Col- 
lege expects  to  have  one  during  the  spring. 

In  pursuance  of  the  policy  adopted  by  the  league  in  regard  to  its 
athletic  games,  it  caused  a  " marksmanship  committee"  to  be  ap- 
pointed in  1905,  consisting  of  the  coaches  of  the  different  schools 
having  gun  machines,  to  organize  and  control  the  shooting  under 
regulations  adopted  by  the  high  schools  games  committee  and  ap- 
proved by  the  central  games  committee  of  the  league. 

This  committee  has  been  found  of  great  value  in  carrying  on  the 
work  and  creating  interest  in  shooting  in  their  different  schools. 

In  1905  Mr.  Henry  Payne  Whitney  presented  to  the  league  a  beau- 
tiful bronze  bas-relief,  being  a  reproduction  of  Darnley's  "  Battle  of 
Lexington,"  for  annual  competition  by  teams  from  the  different 
schools  having  these  machines,  the  winning  school  to  keep  it  for  the 
year. 

In  1905  four  gun  machines  were  in  use,  namely,  by  the  De  Witt 
Clinton  High  School,  High  School  of  Commerce,  Morris  High  School, 
and  the  Boys'  High  School. 

In  June,  1905,  a  competition  Was  held  between  these  schools,  each 
school  shooting  in  its  own  building  under  the  inspection  of  the  "  marks- 
manship committee." 

The  following  were  the  scores  for  teams  of  8,  10  shots  standing, 
highest  possible  score  400 : 

De  Witt  Clinton  High  School 377 

High  School  of  Commerce : 363 

Morris  High  School 345 

Boys'  High  School 344 

The  winning  team  averaged  47 f  out  of  50. 

Two  "boys  made  perfect  scores. 

Each  member  of  the  winning  team  was  given  a  bronze  badge 
modeled  from  the  Whitney  trophy. 

The  result  of  this  match  greatly  stimulated  interest  in  the  shooting. 
It  also  attracted  public  attention. 

During  the  fall  of  1905,  and  the  spring  of  1906,  the  league  was 
able  to  equip  the  remainder  of  the  other  six  high  schools  with  the 
machine. 

In  1906  it  employed  Capt.  G.  W.  Corwin,  inspector  of  rifle  practice 
in  the  Seventy-first  Regiment,  New  York  National  Guard,  and  one  of 


6  RIFLE    PRACTICE    IN    PUBLIC    SCHOOLS. 

the  best  shots  in  the  National  Guard,  as  a  general  instructor,  who 
served  until  after  the  Creedmoor  competition. 

He  selected  in  each  school  a  teacher  who  was  interested  in  the 
subject  (usually  the  athletic  instructor)  as  superintendent  of  shoot- 
ing, and  in  each  class  four  boys  as  sergeant-instructors.  The  superin- 
tendent and  these  boys  were  carefully  instructed  by  Captain  Corwin 
in  the  theory  and  practice  of  shooting,  so  as  to  make  them  com- 
petent instructors. 

The  system  adopted  varied  in  the  different  schools.  Most  of  them 
preferred  to  use  school  hours  for  the  purpose.  In  these  schools, 
usually  when  each  class  was  sent  to  the  gymnasium  for  physical 
exercise,  squads  of  boys  in  rotation  were  detached  to  practice  their 
firing  under  the  immediate  direction  of  a  sergeant-instructor,  and  the 
general  direction  of  the  superintendent  of  shooting,  the  whole  being 
carefully  supervised  by  Captain  Corwin. 

Some  schools  preferred  to  have  their  shooting  after  school  hours, 
in  which  case,  however,  it  was  carried  on  under  the  same  general 
principle. 

Captain  Corwin  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  former  method  was  the 
most  satisfactory,  although  the  Morris  High  School,  which  won  the 
Whitney  trophy  in  1906,  adopted  the  latter  method. 

The  league  established  a  marksmanship  badge,  to  be  awarded,  as 
in  the  National  Guard  and  in  the  Army,  to  each  boy  who  annually 
showed  satisfactory  proficiency  in  shooting.  The  qualifying  score 
first  adopted  for  this  badge  was  40  out  of  a  possible  50  "off-hand." 
It  was  found  almost  immediately  that  the  boys  were  shooting  so  well 
that  it  was  necessary  to  raise  the  standard,  which  was  therefore 
increased  to  42  and  later  to  43. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  number  of  boys  who  qualified  as  marks- 
men in  their  respective  schools  during  the  year  1906 : 

Boys'  High  School 45 

Bryant  High  School 18 

Commercial  High  School 6 

Curtis  High  School 24 

De  Witt  Clinton  High  School 23 

Morris  High  School 16 

Erasmus  Hall  High  School 35 

Manual  Training  High  School 23 

High  School  of  Commerce 19 

Stuy  v^esant  High  School 8 

Total 1 97 

The  qualifying  score  has  now  been  raised  to  44. 

The  Brooklyn  Eagle  assumed  the  expense  of  manufacturing  and 
presenting  these  badges,  which  consisted  of  a  Maltese  cross  Jiaving 
crossed  rifles,  the  seal  of  the  league,  which  is  the  "Winged  Victory," 
in  the  center,  the  whole  being  suspended  from  a  bar  with  the  word 
"Marksman"  on  it,  and  the  date. 

During  the  spring  of  1906  a  large  number  of  interscholastic  com- 
petitions were  held.  These  were  found  valuable,  not  only  in  broad- 
ening the  boys'  ideas  in  respect  to  shooting,  but  in  helping  their  nerve 
in  competitions. 

On  June  1  and  2  the  annual  interscholastic  competition  for  the 
Whitney  trophy  was  held.  Instead  of  having  each  team  shoot  in 
its  own  school  it  was  decided  to  have  them  shoot  together  at  the 
Seventy-first  Regiment  Armory  as  neutral  ground,  under  the  super- 


RIFLE    PRACTICE    IN    PUBLIC    SCHOOLS.  i 

vision  of  Captain  Corwin  as  range  officer.     The  following  were  the 
scores,  the  conditions  being  the  same  as  above  stated : 

Morris  High  School,  Instructor  E.  M.  Williams 359 

Curtis  High  School.  Instructor  0.  M.  Curtis 356 

High  School  of  Commerce,  Instructor  Charles  Jamison 355 

De  Witt  Clinton.  Instructor  Emanuel  Haug 354 

Manual  Training  High  School,  Instructor  Ernest  G.  Muller 350 

Bryant  High  School.  Instructor  George  W.  Norton 349 

Erasmus  Hall  High  School,  Instructor  J.  M.  Tilden 348 

Stuyvesant  High  School,  Instructor  M.  F.  Goodrich 348 

Boys'  High  School.  Instructor  W.  H.  Andrews 340 

The  two  best  scores  were  not  as  high  as  were  made  in  1905,  largely 
owing  to  the  strain  of  shooting  in  actual  competition  and  among 
strange  surroundings.  But  the  average  was  better  and  the  scores 
were  closer. 

The  Savage  Arms  Company  presented  a  rifle  to  each  of  the  six 
schools  whose  team  made  the  nighest  score  in  this  match. 

For  the  purpose  of  impressing  upon  the  boys  and  the  public  that 
those  who  could  make  a  good  score  on  the  subtarget  gun  machine 
could  shoot  accurately  in  the  field,  the  league  arranged  for  a  match 
between  teams  of  five  from  all  high  schools  and  colleges,  to  be  held  at 
Creedmoor,  July  26,  1906,  to  be  shot  100  yards  standing;  400  yards 
lying,  five  shots  at  each  distance.  It  also  arranged  for  two  days' 
previous  practice  by  the  teams  and  also  by  all  other  boys  who  had 
won  its  marksman's  badge,  and  paid  the  transportation  and  ammu- 
nition for  the  participants.  It  provided  Captain  Corwin  as  instructor, 
who  was  assisted  by  a  number  of  volunteers  from  the  National 
Guard.  About  150  boys  in  all  availed  themselves  of  this  opportu- 
nity. None  of  the  boys  had  ever  previously  fired  a  cartridge.  Some 
of  them  were  consequently  a  little  nervous,  in  addition  to  being 
embarrassed  in  shooting  in  the  presence  of  so  many  military  men. 
After  a  few  shots,  however,  they  got  over  their  nervousness. 

In  the  first  practice  the  average  score  was  about  60  out  of  100. 
The  second  score  averaged  80. 

Mr.  J.  A.  Haskell,  president  of  the  Du  Pont  Powder  Company,  and 
a  member  of  the  national  board,  induced  that  company  to  present 
for  annual  competition  in  the  match,  a  handsome  bronze  trophy. 

Mr.  Simon  I'hlmann  presented  a  bronze  figure  of  a  rifleman,  as 
second  annual  prize. 

The  following  is  the  score  of  the  competitors  in  this  match;  highest 
possible  score  250: 

De  Witt  Clinton  High  School  (Manhattan). .  .  220 

Boys'  High  School  (Brooklyn) '. 215 

St.  John's  Military  School  (Manlius,  N.  Y.) 211 

Commercial  High  School  (Brooklyn) 201 

Curtis  High  School  (Staten  Island) 201 

St.  John's  Second  Team 183 

Manual  Training  High  School  (Brooklyn) 181 

Stuyvesant  High  School  (Manhattan) 174 

The  winning  team  averaged  44  out  of  a  possible  50,  although  the 
day  was  a  difficult  one  for  shooting. 

The  School  of  Applied  Science  of .  Columbia  University  asked  to  be 
allowed  to  enter  a  team  in  this  match,  and  offered  to  allow  the  high 
school  boys  a  handicap  of  25  points.  This  was  objected  to  on  tne 
ground  that  they  were  grown  men,  who  had  opportunities  for  prac- 
tice which  were  out  of  the  reach  of  the  boys,  and  who  were  not  in 


8  RIFLE    PRACTICE    IN    PUBLIC1    SCHOOLS. 

the  same  class.  They  were,  however,  allowed  to  shoot  under  protest 
for  the  purpose  of  seeing  how  their  scores  would  compare  with  those 
of  the  boys. 

The  score  which  they  made  was  218,  which  is  less  than  that  of  the 
De  Witt  Clinton  team,  which  could  have  beaten  them  without  any 
handicap. 

This  shooting  shows  the  value  of  the  practice  with  the  subtarget 
machine,  as  the  teams  from  both  Columbia  University  and  St.  John's 
Military  School  had  been  practiced  in  actual  rifle  shooting,  and  yet 
were  inferior  in  marksmanship  to  the  high-school  boys,  who  had  only 
used  the  machine. 

A  match  was  put  on  the  programme  of  the  New  Jersey  Rifle  Associa- 
tion, September,  1906,  at  Sea  Girt,  in  which  a  number  of  the  boys 
entered.  The  pressure  upon  the  target  accommodation  in  conse- 
quence of  the  national  matches  was,  however,  so  great  that  it  could 
not  be  held  at  the  date  appointed,  and  the  boys  could  not  remain. 

The  high  schools  which  are  equipped  with  this  subtarget  gun  machine 
have  organized  rifle  clubs,  and  are  holding  interscholastic  contests  in 
the  armories  of  the  different  regiments  of  the  National  Guard,  shooting 
with  .22-caliber  ammunition,  and  are  displaying  great  proficiency. 

The  movement  has  the  hearty  support  of  President  Roosevelt,  who 
has  accepted  the  office  of  honorary  vice-president  of  the  league,  and 
also  has  announced  his  intention  of  writing  to  the  boy  who  attains  the 
greatest  skill  in  the  rifle  matches  during  the  year  a  personal  letter  of 
congratulation  and  commendation. 

At  the  present  time  there  are  over  7,000  young  men  being  instructed 
in  these  high  schools  in  shooting  with  a  military  rifle,  the  gun  used 
being  the  regular  Krag  army  rifle  as  issued  by  the  War  Department. 

Great  interest  in  the  matter  has  been  taken  by  both  teachers  and 
boys.  Many  of  these  have  now  become  so  proficient,  that  the  serv- 
ices of  a  paid  instructor  have  been  dispensed  with.  It  would,  of 
course,  be  much  better  if  a  regular  officer  could  be  procured  for  such  a 
purpose.  But  the  finances  of  the  league  will  not  permit  it  to  continue 
to  incur  the  expense  of  paying  the  salary  of  such  an  instructor.  It  is 
believed  that  if  a  young  and  active  regular  officer  could  be  detailed 
to  act  in  this  capacity  he  would  be  of  the  greatest  service,  and  could, 
besides  helping  the  shooting,  give  the  boys  some  idea  of  military 
movements  and  discipline,  which  would  be  of  great  value.  In  fact 
an  officer  in  this,  position  would  accomplish  greater  results  for  the 
country  than  is  obtained  by  any  of  those  who  are  detailed  as  instruc- 
tors in  many  of  the  small  colleges.  The  supply  of  regular  officers  is, 
however,  insufficient  for  the  needs  of  the  Army,  and  it  has  so  far  been 
impossible  to  have  one  detailed  for  this  purpose. 

The  league  is  now  preparing  a  manual  of  instruction  to  be  used 
in  the  different  schools.  In  addition  to  containing  instructions  for 
the  use  of  the  subtarget  gun  machine  it  will  give  a  general  idea  of 
what  is  necessary  to  know  in  order  to  shoot  accurately. 

Those  who  have  had  charge  of  the  instruction  of  these  boys  are 
unanimous  in  the  opinion  that  they  acquire  knowledge  of  rifle  shooting 
in  about  one-quarter  of  the  time  that  is  found  necessary  in  the  case 
of  grown  men. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  state  that  the  experience  of  our  recent 
wars  has  pointed  out  that  while  there  is  no  difficulty  in  case  of  war  in 
getting  all  the  volunteers  that  the  country  requires  and  they  can  be 


RIFLE    PRACTICE    IN    PUBLIC    SCHOOLS.  9 

given  a  reasonable  amount  of  drill  in  a  few  weeks,  it  takes  a  long 
time  to  teach  them  to  shoot,  and  that  unless  they  can  shoot  accurately 
they  are  of  little  value  as  soldiers.  If,  however,  the  young  men 
who  are  graduating  from  our  high  schools  in  the  different  States 
should  be  skilled  riflemen  the  country  can  rest  content  with  a  small 
standing  army,  knowing  that  in  case  of  war  it  can  put  into  the  field 
at  short  notice  a  force  of  volunteers  whose  skill  in  rifle  shooting 
will  enable  them  to  be  fully  the  equal  of  any  army  which  may  be 
brought  against  them. 

The  system  is,  therefore,  a  great  factor  for  national  peace. 

The  committee  would  therefore  recommend: 

1.  That   the   largest   possible   publicity  should  be   given   to   the 
methods  that  have  been  found  to  be  so  successful  in  the  New  York 
high  schools. 

2.  That  the  educational  officials  of  the  different  States  should  be 
urged   to   introduce   instruction  in   rifle   shooting  in   their  schools 
among  the  boys  of  13  years  of  age  and  upward,  conforming  to  the 
New  York  methods  as  far  as  their  situation  will  permit. 

3.  That  this  would  be  helped  by  the  organization  of  a  public 
schools  athletic  league  in  each  educational  center. 

GEO.  W.  WINGATE, 
A.  B.  CRITCHFIELD, 

Committee. 
O 


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ocr 


i 


Gaylord  Bros. 

Makers 

Syracuse,  N.  V. 
T.  JAN.  21(  1908 


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